China readies for future U.S. fight

CNN ^ | 3/25/03 | Willy Wo-Lap Lam

[AnimalLover]

CHINA READIES FOR FUTURE U.S. FIGHT March 26, 2003 CNN reports: "The Iraqi war has convinced the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership that some form of confrontation with the U.S. could come earlier than expected. Beijing has also begun to fine-tune its domestic and security policies to counter the perceived threat of U.S. 'neo-imperialism.' As more emphasis is being put on boosting national strength and cohesiveness, a big blow could be dealt to both economic and political reform. That the new leadership has concluded China is coming up against formidable challenges in the short to medium term is evident from recent statements by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. Hu indicated earlier this year Beijing must pay more attention to global developments so that 'China make good preparations before the rainstorm ... and be in a position to seize the initiative.' Wen also pointed out in the first meeting of the State Council, or cabinet, last Saturday the leadership 'must keep a cool head.' 'We must boost our consciousness about disasters and downturns -- and think about dangers in the midst of [apparent] safety,' he said

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

To dismiss Lam as an idiot is to abandon one's credibility regarding China, at any rate.

[Poohbah]

Well, Lam may have an insight into what China's leaders *want* to do.

The problem is that China is a long ways away from actually being able to do it, and their economy looks suspiciously like Enron's balance sheet writ out on a nation-state scale.

As we said when I was a (much younger than I am now :o) jarhead, "want into one hand, s**t into the other, and tell me which one fills up first."

[El Gato]

china isn't capable of attacking the us in the forseeable future.

All depends on what is in those millions of shipping containers besides consumer electronics. Those ships too could be used to transport other "containers". Just as the Brits used container ships to transport all sorts of stuff to the Falklands, including operating radar sets, Harrier jets and other war like stores. They even used one ship as a make do aircraft carrier. (For the Harriers).

Of course container ships are also big and slow targets for all sorts of things that go boom!

[JimRed]

In short, please give us a coherent theory of victory for the Chinese in the scenario you describe.

Victory? I don't think so. But an opportunity to hurt a nation they perceive as an enemy, with plausible deniability (how do we prove that it wasn't Islamofascist terrorists) would be appealing to them.

Kind of like the street punk who vandalizes vehicles because he resents the "rich" owners. If he's not caught, he's "won", but he's won nothing.

[Poohbah]

Victory? I don't think so. But an opportunity to hurt a nation they perceive as an enemy, with plausible deniability (how do we prove that it wasn't Islamofascist terrorists) would be appealing to them.

A large-scale device, exploding in a COSCO hull, with fallout showing that the nuclear material came from China is pretty much a case of the ChiComs shouting "WE DID IT, PLEASE VAPORIZE US!"

There's a reason the USSR never tried any of this stuff during the Cold War--it's a lot easier to ID the source of the bomb than most laymen think.